Villafranca Montes de Oca

Well these days seem to be falling into a pattern - get up early, walk a couple of hours through some old villages, find a place to stay, relax. And indeed that pretty much was today. I've made it intentionally a short day looking ahead for the coming days and my schedule to meet Fr Paul in Leon.
Last night's hostel was a commercial establishment, in that it had the pilgrim's hostel, a hotel, a cafe, bar, restaurant. It was nice in that you didn't have to leave. Register, get settled and then eat lunch, relax at the pool! (Much too cold! ), and later on eat super, never having to go anywhere but to the next building.  They like most places have a pilgrim's menu - for one fixed price (usually 10€ or $16) you have a pick of a limited number of items including a salad, main course, dessert, wine and bread. And for another 3€ you have your little breakfast in the morning before you set off.
I delayed with breakfast until after 8 before setting off. The church in town was already open as I passed by so got to see their 17th century altarpiece, and many side chapels. Each one uniquely beautiful. Went through three other small villages this morning, they all seemed quiet and sleepy, as didn't even find anything open for a snack until late morn, all had old churches which were locked, and so just kept walking until about noon and got here to Villafranca Montes de Oca. Instead of the large municipal hostel, I chose a private hostel that a big fancy hotel here also offers pilgrims. The place is nice enough, though the dorms are crowded as any other place, and a very small kitchen. I guess they want/expect you to eat in their restaurant. I don't feel like a big meal tonight, so I think I'll just do something simple from the store.
While the walking was nice enough this morning, and we didn't have any rain, it was certainly cool enough and has been sprinkling all afternoon. So good thing there's not much to explore in this town. I'll probably be able to get to bed early tonight.